The Spectral Boat

This story is traé so far as the ratur's responsibiüty is wncerned. By , tl.e narrator I mean the pi lot. I 1 1 name is Kinnev, pilot of the Baton Ro e The Batou Rouge was the ?3 elegant steamer (Bixby master Elton pureer)" plying between St. Louis { "'i'xu'iit aboardSthe Baton Rouge at St. Louis Bixby Lntroduced me to Knniey. I, Khmov I ïound a short, thick-bodied mah half gray and eeyestawny colored mustaclie, a goatee, ïull cheeka, ., ,,lv with health and the natural -., 1,. of onewhose hair was mixed red and brKinney stood watch six hours off and BlxhSmatSe wheel. He.knew the histórica! points of the river and he pointed them out one after anotner. Kinnev turned bis wheel with a spasmodic vtoleuee and rang the engmeer 8 belte to "slow port" to "tast starboard and reverted bis orders with such japidg that the mechan,, be low j the infernal, to know wuai " " Prpsentlv we rouuded the bena. "See tLt corner of the island there?" asked Kinney. There's where the bones of the old Alonzo Childs are laid." "Well?" "Mark ïwain had his license on that boat. She was taken in the daya of the War and run bv the Confedérales, and Clemenswas her püot. Atter he had left her and joined the Confedérate array, the machinery or so much of ït as was any good, was taken, out and her huil passed into possession of au old , ..iA„l .,.„Orl nlantation 'round ■hap ttiat owueu x --- i. Bayou Sara, below here. He had a land boiler and engine and used it for boíl ing , sugar and pressing cane. Colonel Hub . bard burned the sugar-house as he - passed by with his detatchmeut oi diers, but the boiler and engine as ■ saved in a somewhat disturbed condition. The old fellows name was De boto. "De Soto put his old eügme and boiler on the huil of the Alonzo Childs and she was made to travel up and down, inside the Confedérate linea, of couree.fc.he went between Port Hudsou and icksburg. At that time I was 'cub' pilo on a big Bteamer, and I used to see her. Onegday I heard she exploded or snagged, and everybody on board was lost ïhe circnmstances of the disaster no oneeverknew. A ie bloated bod 8 and some charred piecea ot the old craft's timbers floating down the m er indicated the extent of the horror. "Two vears ago I was standing watchingaionen thegpilot house. The n ver was up and we were pushing the gray, muddy waters aside under a full head Jsteam. I had Joat pulled the wheel over to make the bend, when I saw a steauier heading straight for us. It appeured to me that she carne out of the Uik rather than up the river, and I „oticed at the moment that she was ,z itrln„P ,.raft to me. AVell, 1 blowea once11 pass to pass to port and steered off to the west shore. Giying hei the advantaue of the baekwater,! watched her, and ptesenüy I saw trom her wh tle two escapes ot steaiii. By that 1 saw , that she had blown twice, a though I 1 had not heard the blasts. feo I blew twice and reversed my helm. "Sfill she carne ou. Do you know 1 ti,n„„l,t she was some up-nver boat oi Sürer. thinking she owned the earth, and pushíng me 'round so he pilots 'could teil midwinter varns about fiow thev made it hot tor a big Neyr Orèans and 8t. Louis packet? 1 whistled S No auswer, and she carne Bn' right for us, and gettin' so , near that the danger of a smash was imminent. I Uew an alarm blut and Btopped, and as she carne nearer, bidding fair to strikTus just forward of the starboard víheel I rang the bell to back hard. In he second oi interval necessary to reverse the engiïe I looked at the ap crait and noticed that her gLLdw2 terrific and that she made ná sound I closed mv eyes for a moment , in order that my sight should not intérfere vvith my ears. There was no no se of escaping steam, no beat of paddie wheels i opened them again. &he was upon us, and, with a bare though of the passengers below-my own tam ily- I closed them again. "In that second oï mental agony i i n,Q ,,iaiin dmvii in the mam saloon odV playins Natalie the , Maid of the MUI.1 I heard the discord, which 1 knew must have been occasione by the firet alarm of dauger-the sweep of the liand over the keys as the player turned suddenly f rom the piano. I i-'rew old and lived twenty years. I neyer were so alert as to give me a physical "T opened my eyes a second afterward and there was no boat. Isothmg in si-'ht. Ünly a blank spread ot water, a fasi-flowiug current and our own boat backing at full speed, while Captain Dixbywas veiling from the hurncane dsck " '"What in the blazes is the "I don't know how I recovered myself, but I did teil Mm some way or other that the bell rope had got tangled. I started her ahead theu. Now, that was in the aiternoon at 4 o clock- anü teil me the re aint ghosts?" "I have never ïailed to see her vvhei I passed here within two hours of üi hourof 4 o'clock, mornmg or e.8. - Here comes iny relief for dinner. Had vours? No. Sltatmytable. It's nearly , 4 and as we are about to stop to wood up'before we round the bend, maybe you will see the ghost of a steamer yourself. Seein'sbelievin'." Just then the speaking tube f rom the captain's office was souuded, and I heard the hollow, reverberatmg tone ot Bixbv's voice through tifty Leet ot tin pipe sayin" one of the cylinders needed repacking and we vvould stay at the woodpile where we were till it was done. "That means ten hours, anyway," said Kinuey. "Thank God, we Will get bv the bend about nudnight. "Ten hours did not measure the time of our delay, and I was sleeping obliyious of ghosts and regardless of Kinney s spook steamboat, when a sharp rap at my stateroom door brought me out of dreamless slumber. "Mr. Kinney says, "Would you all please, sir, come into the pilot house . It was the voice of the nightwatch speaking to me as an individual and assuring me that none of myselt was nealected. Giving a hasty affirmative I arose and hurried to the lmmcane deck. ,.,11 "I say," he said, ït's nearly 4 o clock and wo" are froing to pass the wreek You wanted to see the ghost of a steam ' lboat. I don't want to be alone and want a skeptie with me. Light your pipe and sit down." Khmey hove the wheel over to port, and the ïackstaff of the bout could be 5een, as the "níght hawk" swung tor the pilot's eye to'sweep the horizon cut away such fays oí light as penetrated the cottonwood foresta on the Louisiana shore. "I don't see her," said Kiuney, turniug his uight glass one way and another, "and it;s ten minutes to 4." "Don't see what?" inquired a strange voice at iny side and turning in surprise, for I had not heard any one enter, i could define in the half-gray light oL the morning the figure oí a man with srnoothly shaven face- apparently a vouth. " "The gliost," said Kinney, still peerin" ínto tlie space beyond. "Why 1 was just telling you- great I God thére she is!" . I looked iu the direction he pomteu, and sure enough, about a quarter ot a mile were the red and green lights of an I approaching steamer. I knew enough of the laws of the road on water to comprehend that she was coming toward us, and I could also see she was making tremendous headway. Kinney's eyes as 1 saw them flash, were nxeü upon her. He neither moved the wheel nor stirred a haud to give warning. "Kinney," I cried, "that is not the rhost; it is a steamer. It is the White of the Vicksburg line, bound up. bhe is to pass here about this time. ior the love of heaven, give the signal!" Vt such a time one scarcely knows what he says or does. The two great vessels, each of them moving at the rate of fourteen or flfteen miles an hour, seemed doomed to crash upon each other. I knew the White was, ordinarily, filled with passengers, On our own boat were nearly 200 souls. I tried to wrest the wheel f rom him ; Dut a strong arm swept us both aside, md the stranger seized the spokes. Hiere was a jiugling of bells, a screeching of whistles, a mad cry of human voices, a leaping of íiames over light woodwork that cracked and seemed to laugh with joy over the destruction that was being wrought. But over it all I heard one voice m articúlate agony, whose wild, agonizing accents I shall never forget. Then, m the flash of ñame, I saw the face of the person who had uttered it. It was the stranger at the wheel. On his cap band, spelled out in letters of gold bullion, were the words, "Pilot, Alonzo Childs. He was illumined by the blaze and lus eyer shown brighter than the lire ïtselt. "I ampunished! My God, is it not enough? I was her pilot? It is the Alonzo Childs !" he screamed. For a second he towered, like a giant, tegi over the eïght-foot wheel; then, throwing his arms about his head, he feil prone upon the floor. Already the glass Windows of the pilot house were öracking with the heat. I knelt beside the prostrate form. There was no heartbeat. TT I looked pp at Kinney. He was standing with his anns folded. His lace perieotly cahn, but pale as death. At that moment the flamea burst ïuto the pilot house, and their hot breath blistered my hands as I held them betore my eyes. I had no feehng of fear, bevond apprehension of physical pain. Death had no terror for me. Besides, there was no escape. I remember just then that Kinney shook me by the arm, and I heard bis voice : " ' "Say, you will set yourself aüre ma minute." I opeued my eyes. The steamer Baton Rouge, Bixby master, Eltou clerk, was aving quiek dispatch, and my atterinuer pipe lay smoking on my knee. ome of its live aslies were on the Hoor nd some liad burned my hand just a íttle, and Kinney saidlhad been asleep ess than two minutes.- R. R-, m New York News.